Happy Opening Day!

For some people, this is New Year’s Day. And in Houston, where the day could not be more perfect, it’s hard to remember that the rest of the country, in the main, suffered mightily this winter and Opening Day is even sweeter than it is here.

This is a gorgeous video from ESPN. Full disclosure: I know the dad of the guy who made it, Tim Horgan. Still, it reminds us that especially this time of year, baseball is about hope.

Geez, only SIX games on Opening Day. That’s just pathetic. Remember when Opening Day was a big deal with sellout games and families getting into the pageantry of the game?

I remember opening day 1969. I was eight. Shea Stadium. Mets versus the Expos. Tom Terrific on the mound. Crowded stadium… must’ve been 45,000. He got lit up by the Expos. Four runs in five innings, luckily for him only two earned. Dad took the day off and I got out of school early. We took the train in from New Jersey to Penn Station and took subway trains out to Shea. Man, that was a long game. We hoped for extra innings. The Mets lost, 11-10, despite getting four runs in the 9th. Duffy Dyer hitting a three run homer in the bottom of the 9th with 2 out, but they just couldn’t seal the deal.

I miss what baseball used to be. Hope springs eternal that the ‘Stros won’t bite this year.

Yes, the rest of the nation has suffered this winter, but now it’s spring, and their suffering is over. Unfortunately for us, baseball season means the Astros are playing, so our suffering is just getting underway.